Last year’s drag show, hosted by Niomi Onassis Knight and Gabby Ocampo, centered a theme of villians.
Photo courtesy of Katie Sing
By Alisha Durosier
Hold onto your hats, USF St. Petersburg is in for a wild ride. On Nov. 7, the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) is bringing the wild wild west to campus with the annual drag show.
Taking place in the USC ballrooms, the rodeo themed drag show will be hosted by drag queen Niomi Onassis Knight and psychology senior Joaquina “Jo” Ortuño. The rodeo will feature photo opportunities, themed snacks, drinks, props and of course, performances by both professional drag artists and students. Kicking off the show, will be USF St. Petersburg’s All Stars dance team.
The wild wild west theme is an homage to the western resurgence sparked by Beyonce’s country album “Cowboy Carter” last spring — when the theme was conceived. The planning for the drag show begins at least a semester in advance, with securing the venue — the USC ballroom — and finalizing the concept as top priorities. “We’re already thinking about the next one,” said Serena Lozandi, biology senior and OMA executive director.
The start of the semester is when the bulk of the planning takes place, where a portion of OMA’s staff meetings were allocated to nailing down the details of the drag show. “We kind of just start in the fall and hit the ground running,” said Bryan Robleto, psychology and English senior and OMA director of cultural programs and events.
The duo compares it to painting a picture.
“Everybody’s working on their own section, and we are checking in,” Robleto said. “We’re making sure we’re all focused on the same goal… it is a lot. But seeing it all come together is very rewarding. Seeing all the students enjoying themselves, I think that’s the most impactful part of our jobs.”
The only delay in planning came from the marketing side.
Two hurricanes, Helene and Milton, made landfall on the west coast of Florida just 13 days apart. Though the hurricanes didn’t push the event date back, advertising, tabling and sign-ups for student volunteers — key parts of the show and its marketing — took place only a week and a half before the drag show. They were intended to be sent out instead of a month in advance.
For most of the designated marketing period, OMA relied on social media and their promotional flyer created by Duy Do, graphic arts senior and OMA director of promotions.
Ortuño, a first-time drag show host who was initially encouraged by Lozandi and Robleto to co-host, calls the show the brainchild of only a few students.
“I think our campus is really unique in how we’re able to kind of conjure up events with just a couple people,” Ortuño said.
The drag show is a student-led and student-funded event, with the OMA programming board being the “guiding force,” as Robleto put it. They receive logistical support from Student Life and Engagement and USC staff.
Photo courtesy of Katie Sing
“They’ve been really supportive in helping us [with] any hurdles,” Lozandi said. “There’s obstacles in the planning process, because there’s always going to be obstacles.”
The fact that the drag show is student-led is one of the key elements that makes planning it possible each year.
Lozandi said that students often ask every year if the drag show is still happening. Presumably because the show’s essence — offering a space where queer expression takes center stage — makes it a target.
“Out of a public university in the state of Florida, the fact that we’re having a drag show is incredible in and of itself,” Ortuño said.
For the past two years, Florida universities have felt the impacts of statewide anti-DEI regulations. In 2023, Florida officially banned state and federally-funded DEI initiatives and curricula in public universities.
In March, USF mandated that students, faculty, staff and guests must use restrooms and changing rooms aligned with sex that was assigned to them at birth, in compliance with “Florida’s Safety in Private Spaces Act.”
Even recently at USF St. Petersburg, an array of flags representing countries, cultures, movements and identities in the USC were removed.
Drag performances also came under fire last year. Though the law was ultimately blocked by the supreme court, Florida legislature passed the “Protection of Children Act,” which prohibited children from attending drag performances.
The drag show persists despite these regulations. But every year, there are new boundaries that OMA must navigate to keep the event running.
The event is restricted to those who are above 18 years old. To ensure that everyone present is of age, SLE staff will be checking government-issued ids.
On Nov. 4, three days before the drag show, OMA sent an email to all student performers outlining the performance violations, along with instructions for rehearsals and signing conduct waivers.
The performance violations include depictions of sex acts, unapproved props, real or fake weapons, cut outs of human faces, glitter or confetti, jumping off the stage, inappropriate clothing, and violations of Student Center and Events policies.
In response, four out of the five student performers dropped out.
“Drag, to me, is very personal. It is an art form. It is a matter of expression — queer expression,” said anthropology senior Rain Weinstein, a student performer who dropped out following OMA’s email. Weinstein said that the outlined violations referenced some aspects of their past performances in the drag show.
“It’s really unfair. Extremely unfair… I can see it as [OMA] trying to defend what events they have left… But at this point, there’s nothing to defend because the soul of drag has been completely gutted out of the performance,” Weinstein said.
Ortuño observes that in the current climate, drag and queer expression are increasingly seen as political acts and it’s impacting the way queer students express themselves on campus, even during events intended to safe spaces. “It sucks,” Ortuño said.
“Drag is political because unfortunately being queer has become political… but being queer, drag, and self-expression, it’s just part of life,” Ortuño said. “Things are changing… everything is just to ensure that we’re allowed to keep doing these things and unfortunately it’s getting a little bit harder.”
As Ortuño and Weinstein notes, as students face more obstacles to keeping the tradition of self-expression alive, preserving the heart as well as the existence of the drag show is becoming an uphill battle.
Lozandi echoes this sentiment.
“Working to keep this event here at St. Pete is very impactful in terms of making sure that these students feel included and also making sure that they know that just because these legislations are passing… we’re working on keeping this tradition going,” Lozandi said.
The drag show is OMA’s biggest event of the year. “We know that students come to that event looking for a welcoming environment,” Robleto said. “So, we want to continue providing that.”
The drag show begins at 6 p.m. Students are encouraged to come dressed in their best wild wild west gear.
